Best Software Engineering Podcasts
No matter where you are in your software development career, it’s important to keep a pulse of new trends and technologies. One way to get exposure to those things is by listening to related podcasts. Podcasts are a great way to get timely, relevant information on key topics from people you normally wouldn’t have access to. It’s also a great way to develop your skills while you’re on your commute or at the gym!
Here are some top software engineering related podcasts (in no particular order).
OneThe Changelog – This popular weekly interview podcast comes out with a new episode each Wednesday and includes a deep-dive with software engineering experts. Many episodes go for over an hour, but each one provides comprehensive coverage on topics ranging from open source viewpoints to artificial intelligence.
TwoSoftware Engineering Radio – Every 10 days a new episode geared towards software engineers and engineering managers is published. Each episode interviews a well-known software expert from popular companies around the world covering topics ranging from Cryptography Engineering to Architecture and Organizational Design.
ThreeSoftware Engineering Daily – The #1 rated software engineering podcast in iTunes, this (almost) daily podcast interviews key industry experts on various technical topics. The material dives deep on particular topics, but is broad enough that both new and seasoned listeners will find value. Some popular topics include React Native at AirBnB, infrastructure at Shopify, and designing for Alexa Voice. There are also text transcripts of each episode available on the website. For an interesting, behind-the-scenes look with the founder, check out the project on Indie Hackers.
FourSoft Skills Engineering – Whether you like it or not, the best software engineers need skills that go well beyond their technical expertise. Creating great products virtually always requires working cross-functionally with other individuals/teams and that introduces human dynamics that can be tricky to navigate. Mastering skills such as listening, improving team productivity, managing micromanagers, and exchanging performance feedback will certainly go a long ways to help a good engineer become great!
FiveTechZing – The podcast tagline summarizes it best: “If you’re a hacker, you’ll probably like our show. ;)” TechZing has been around for a while and typically releases twice a week: a ‘Midweek Interview Show’ and a ‘Weekend Discussion Show’. This one is more broad in subject matter, but often covers software engineering topics organically. They recommend that new listeners take a glance at the podcast wiki to orient themselves first.
SixPodcast.__init__ – “The podcast about Python and the people who make it great.” Whether you’re a seasoned Python guru or a full-stack engineer looking to stay sharp, you’ll find something interesting in this long-running series on all things Python. Average listeners be warned: things can often get a bit technical in the episodes.
SevenJavaScript Jabber – One of the weekly podcasts run by devchat.tv is to javascript what Podcast.___init__ is to Python. Each week the host interviews someone from the industry on emerging JS trends and how it’s being used at some of the world’s top companies. If you like the format, check out some of their other domain focused shows on Ruby, Vue, React, and Angular.
EightCloudcast – This legendary software engineering podcast run by Aaron Delp & Brian Gracely has been consistently releasing weekly episodes for over six years. Now, 300+ episodes later, you can still turn in for the latest insights related to cloud computing, serverless architecture, DevOps, and more. High-level TL;DR notes on each episode are available on their website.
